Communication Expert Hits Pa. Voter ID Campaign

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — A state Commonwealth Court trial on Pennsylvania’s voter-identification law is slated to resume Monday.

Judge Bernard McGinley recessed the trial Friday following testimony by an expert on political communication who criticized last year’s campaign to publicize the new photo ID requirement.

Diana Mutz, a faculty member at the University of Pennsylvania and its Annenberg School for Communication, said the campaign urging voters with ID to “show it” was confusing and that officials failed to include meaningful checks on whether the federally funded $5 million voter-outreach effort was achieving its objectives. She said it did nothing to clear up confusion over which IDs are valid or highlight the availability of a free Department of State card for voting purposes.